Air Force special tactics MH-6M MC-130J
Air National Guard special tactics airmen in an MH-6M helicopter unloaded from a MC-130J during an exercise on a Wyoming highway in May.
  • The growing reach of the Chinese military has the US Air Force worried about its bases.
  • In response, it's training more often at remote airfields and on alternative runways, like highways.
  • Air Force special operators are widening the search, seeking more roads and even beaches to land on.

US Air Force Special Operations Command is widening its search for runways as it seeks to counter what the US military sees as China's growing ability to threaten its bases across the Pacific.